Picking up my first MR2

Hi guys! 
 
My name is Josh, I'm 23 and i'm from the Adelaide Hills in SA. 
 
My uncle Murray is the proud owner of 2 MR2s.
One he has owned for 18 years, which is a white Rev 3 Nov 93 GT hardtop 3SGTE with 120,000km's.
And the second is a black N/A targa. 
 
Since I was a small lad i've always been in love with his GT. The best memories I have of my childhood were the days where I'd brag to all my friends and sit in excitement waiting for him to pick me up from school.
 
Only just recently, my Uncle has decided he wants to "downsize" and wants to sell both his Mr2's and his current daily M5 BMW. As soon as he spoke to me about it, I offered to buy it immediately. He was very resistant to sell it to me because of its dangerous nature of snap understeer. But after considering my current weekender Stagea has 290rwkw he has agreed.
 
The car has done 60,000km's since he has owned it. It gets seasonally registered and is serviced every 6months. It is basically original, minus a set of Bob Jane special 17"s, Audio upgrade and Upgraded rear shocks. 
 
I'm super excited for the day I get to drive it home. It's always been a long time dream. 
I'm looking at doing some minor "bolt on" modifications, but would like to ask you guys what are your thoughts? It's just going to be a weekender/spirited hills driver. 
 
I wanted to upload some pictures, but have little clue to how. :) i'll figure it out..
 
 

rikkir
Hi Josh, it's great to see another SA enthusiast. There's not a lot in SA unfortunately. Hopefully we'll be able to catch up sometime. If you're interested in hitting the track, several of us go to Mallala every now and again. I'm hoping to be in Adelaide for the April 30 practice day, and hopefully a few other SA guys will be there too. I live in Ceduna, 800 kms away, so only get to Adelaide a few times a year, so I try to make the most of it. SA is hosting the MR2 Nationals in 2017 of you're interested.
Cheers
Rick.

Thanks Rick! I never see any in Adelaide, it shows how under appreciated they are. Also somewhat their rarity. I don't think i'd be confident enough to take it trackside yet, but would consider going to watch. Maybe entering my Stagea instead haha. 
 
 

Hi Josh,
 
Great to see another SW owner in SA. We've become few and far between these days.
As Rick said, the MR2 scene isn't particularly huge here, but we still exist.
I spend a bit of time in the hills, and travel between Gawler in Mt Barker regularly, so maybe I'll run into you sometime.
 
In terms of upgrades, I'd suggest leaving it as it is for a while and just get used to how it handles. They're a difficult chassis at the best of times and it takes a lot to master them. I'm still coming to terms with mine after a year owning my GT-S, and I had a 91 N/A for 2 years previously.
 
Stock Gen 3 chassis have all the upgrades than the Gen 1's and some 2's needed, being the reinforced sway-bar mounts, better suspension and much improved ABS (if you have it). They're a well built car and honestly don't need a great deal of money spent to make them an excellent car to drive.
 
If you want to upgrade anything, start with your tyres.
A good set of tyres makes all the difference to any car, and you'll definitely notice it.
There's no point getting coilovers, sway bars, bigger turbos, running higher boost or E85 if you don't have traction in the first place.
The only modifications my car has are Whiteline Sway-Bars, and intake and exhaust. The engine, while built, is still running stock boost and timing, and won't need to be touched for a while yet.
You will definitely wear out rears faster than your fronts, I can guarantee that. I've chewed through so many rear pairs in the last 3 years it isn't funny. Admittedly, I drive my cars like I stole them, which certainly doesn't help with tyre longevity.
 
As Rick said, there's a practice day at Mallala on April 30th that I think most of the SA guys will be going to. I'm also aiming to be there on April 9th and May the 2nd for a private day, but obviously there's no pressure to drive.
I do greatly encourage you learn the limits of your car on the track over driving in the hills. Many people learn the hard way that public roads are more dangerous than you think.
 
Look forward to seeing you at the track or out in the hills sometime!